International Cocktail Competition Puts Amaro in the Spotlight

The cocktail competition encourages bartenders to use and experiment with Amaro Montenegro.
Jake Emen

By

Jake Emen

Dec. 12, 2018 11:10 a.m. ET

Amaro has a unique place in Italian drinking culture, typically served as the crucial post-dinner digestif. There are hundreds of brands to choose from in Italy, though since its creation in 1885, only one has sat at the pinnacle: Amaro Montenegro.

Made with 40 botanicals, including a highly secretive “premio” flavor note that is approximately just one drop per bottle, the bittersweet liqueur is Italy’s top selling amaro. Now with global aspirations, how does such a distinctively Italian product expand its horizons? The key, of course, is the cocktail, with the linchpin of Amaro Montenegro’s strategy an international cocktail competition dubbed The Vero Bartender.

The competition, of which I was a judge, finds itself comfortably at an intersection of trends, including the global growth of craft cocktail culture, as well as the increasing availability and appreciation of amaro on the whole. In terms of amaro’s growth, consider New York bar Amor y Amargo, which is wholly dedicated to serving a diverse selection of amari.

American-made amaro is even gaining prestige, such as those from Washington, D.C.'s Don Ciccio & Figli, made with founder Francesco Amodeo’s grandfather’s recipes from the Amalfi Coast.

“This is the result of the strong results of our international team as well as you passionate people who make sure it reaches people’s lips,” he told the crowd at the global finals for The Vero Bartender in Bologna, Italy, this November.

The competition encourages bartenders to use and experiment with Amaro Montenegro, serving it to their guests. More product is used at the bar, while consumers also come into contact with the amaro and may end up wanting to pick up a bottle for themselves.

Amaro Montenegro is made with 40 botanicals, including a secretive premio flavor note that is roughly a drop per bottle.
Jake Emen

Meanwhile, brand-sponsored cocktail competitions have become de rigueur for an industry increasingly focused on professional growth and prestige on a world stage. Major examples including Bacardi Legacy, Bombay’s Most Imaginative Bartender, and Diageo World Class.

All of this has provided the perfect platform for the emergence of The Vero Bartender, which this year held its first global finals after starting with a smaller footprint in previous years. The competition began with early rounds in 10 of the brand’s key international markets, ranging from the United States to the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. The brand’s home of Italy was, of course, also included among the entrants. Even though Amaro Montenegro is the market leader there, it’s still seeking to break out of its traditional shell and find a new home behind the bar.

Marian Beke, of acclaimed London cocktail hub The Gibson, served as a judge at The Vero Bartender finals, and offered the bartenders a seminar prior to the competition. “Amaro is not just for digestivo, it can be used like any other ingredient,” he says. “At first though, there was not many options for it besides the traditional way.”

Bartenders therefore needed to start thinking outside the box and finding new ways to show it off. “It’s up to bartenders to make something that maybe a guest has never had in his life,” Beke says. “To create a memory experience.”

Beke’s wild imagination took him as far as a re-distillation of Amaro Montenegro, rendering one clear, higher proof spirit that could be used in a surprising transparently-hued amaro martini, and a dark, nearly no-ABV product, which could be used as an amaro-flavored ingredient for those looking for low or zero proof cocktails.

The competing international bartenders took up the mantle with a diverse range of cocktails highlighting Amaro Montenegro in different ways. There were riffs on classic cocktails, such as Negronis and Americanos; infusions ranging from smoked figs to bananas; strong, stirred cocktails, and lighter, refreshing ones; and partner spirits ranging from mezcal to whiskey and gin.

The winning cocktail was made by Andrea Civettini, an Italian living in Spain and representing the bar Paradiso, where he works in Barcelona. His cocktail, the Flor de Monte, added Amaro Montenegro to the base of a Pisco Sour, further refining the flavor with vanilla syrup and a unique “French foam” made with sparkling wine, Suze, creme de cassis, lemon and grapefruit juices, and cinnamon syrup.

The finals of the event showcased 10 competitors hailing from as many countries, whittled down from a pool of hundreds of entrants.

Along the way, new ideas were developed for how to serve the liqueur, and how to spread the message of the brand—one based on passion, friendship, and what they call their sapore vero, or true flavors. Immediate plans to expand the event include opening up the competition to 20 and eventually 30 countries, gaining further footholds while dotting the map in every direction, one creative cocktail at a time.

The writer was hosted by Amaro Montenegro, and served as a judge at the competition.

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